1. The facade of the Immigration Museum.
    Photograph: Museums Victoria
  2. People dressed in colourful cultural clothing performing a dance.
    Photograph: Museums Victoria
  3. A person standing at a DJ deck.
    Photograph: Museums Victoria

Immigration Museum

This museum has boundless tales to share of the people who ventured from afar to make Australia home
  • Museums
  • Melbourne
Liv Condous
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Time Out says

Using first-hand accounts, real-life imagery and memorabilia, the true stories of people who have migrated to Victoria are recounted in this fascinating Melbourne museum. It's housed inside a magnificently restored building that, between 1858-70, acted as Melbourne's own Customs House. The Museum's epicentre is the wonderful Long Room, a revivalist marvel of Renaissance architecture worth the price of admission alone.

The museum has several permanent exhibitions including Leaving Home, Identity: Yours, Mine, Ours and Getting In. Plus, there are fascinating temporary exhibitions on a variety of topics. The museum also has a discovery centre and gallery of the Old Customs House – a important institution involved with Australia's immigration history. In addition to exhibitions, there are a variety of events like festivals, workshops and activities. Find out what's happening on the website

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Details

Address
Old Customs House
400 Flinders St
Melbourne
3000
Transport:
Nearby stations: Flinders St; Southern Cross
Price:
Up to $15
Opening hours:
Daily 10am-5pm

What’s on

Joy

The Immigration Museum on Flinders Street is getting its first major exhibition in several years and it’s all about leaning into what makes us happy. The exhibition, called Joy, will run through until August 29, 2025. Joy features seven brand new commissioned installations from leading Victorian-based creatives, each expressing the artists’ own personal joy. You can expect an emotive adventure where colour and storytelling combine, and big happy moments that sit alongside more reflective ones. Experience the vibrant power of joy as you walk amongst room-sized interactive artworks, or contribute your own joy with the collaborative ‘share your joy’ wall. Venezuelan-born Australian artist Nadia Hernández has filled the Immigration Museum’s hallway with bold collage works, ‘future positive’ fashion designer Nixi Killick has created a ‘joy generator’ and queer artist Spencer Harrison has created a runway where you can strut your stuff. Jazz Money, a Wiradjuri poet and artist, has fused sculpture, audio and mural for a work reflecting the history of the museum site, while local artist Beci Orpin has taken over a room with a giant toy rabbit made to be hugged. Afghanistan-Australian visual artist and poet Elyas Alavi and Sher Ali have also created a large-scale mural illustrating a Persian myth.  Lastly, much-loved pop artist and designer Callum Preston has constructed a full-scale replica of a nineties video store, a joy he never thought he would miss until he realised it was...
  • Digital and interactive
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